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Commission approves distillery and restaurant at 532 Main St. with 30-year specific-use provision
Summary
The Plan Commission approved a specific-use provision to allow breweries/wineries/distilleries at 532 Main St., Suite A, and granted a 30-year special-use period at the commission's request; the applicant said the operation will be a full-service restaurant and community-oriented distillery.
The Garland Plan Commission unanimously approved a specific-use provision on June 9 to allow breweries, wineries and distilleries at 532 Main St., Suite A (case Z25-22), and the commission set the special-use period at 30 years.
Planning staff described the property as a 5,000-square-foot vacant downtown suite adjacent to the downtown square. Staff recommended approval and noted the site is within the Downtown Historic Subdistrict and the comprehensive plan calls the area a community center. Staff mailed 115 notice letters and reported two responses from within the notification area (one in favor) and one in favor from outside the notification area.
Applicant Evan Batt, representing Lockwood Distilling Company, said his company operates several locations and maintains federal and state distillery permits. He told the commission the business intends to operate a full-service restaurant with distilling and manufacturing compliance, and emphasized routine federal and state audits. "We are not moonshiners by any stretch of the imagination. Everything, every drop is accounted for well beyond what a traditional bar or restaurant does," Batt said.
Staff noted the applicant's state and federal licensing requirements can require the site to be zoned for a distillery even if distilling does not immediately occur on-site; the applicant confirmed the zoning request accommodates licensing. Commissioners discussed indefinite special-use terms versus fixed terms; the commission ultimately supported a 30-year period as a condition to provide stability for the operator and the property owner. The motion to close the public hearing and approve the specific-use provision with a 30-year special-use term passed unanimously.
The approval allows the site to be used for breweries/wineries/distilleries subject to any required building-permit, health and liquor-licensing approvals with state and federal authorities. The applicant said construction and licensing work is underway with an anticipated opening in the fall, conditional on permitting and license approvals.
